While in Libya, Erdoğan, who will be accompanied by the state minister for foreign trade, Zafer Çağlayan, as well as a large business delegation, is scheduled to have talks with both Libyan President Muammar al-Gaddafi and Prime Minister Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi. Erdoğan will also attend a Libya-Turkey business forum, which will be jointly organized by Libyan and Turkish business circles.
Erdoğan’s visit is considered by Ankara as an opportunity for a review of the current course of bilateral relations between the two countries and for seeking opportunities in improving bilateral cooperation particularly in economic and commercial fields.
The latest prime ministerial level visit between the two countries took place in October 1996, when then-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan met with Gaddafi in Libya leading to complications over bilateral relations. The visit, which aimed at improving relations, had backfired when Gaddafi reportedly lent support to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by a large majority of the international community.
“The state of Kurdistan should take its place in the spectrum of nations under the Middle Eastern sun. Turkey should not fight against people seeking their independence,” Gaddafi was quoted as saying at the time.
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